Why can’t we just see the Gold Plates?

I think this is an excellent question. Most people will say “it’s because God requires faith”. However, the logic of this baffles me at times. There are so many things (outright lies) in this world I could have faith in to see if it paid off into real knowledge — and potentially, never reaching the truth. If you don’t hit on the right Church you live your whole life testing all kinds of false beliefs through faith. Further, people throughout history have used faith to take advantage of others. Jim Jones and the People’s Temple is a case in point.

Even shoe salesman have used this with the classic “The shoes might not feel right at this moment, but when you get home wearing them around for a while, they will be just fine”…hoping I’ll have faith enough in the shoes ability to form to my feet so I’ll buy them.

Now, if the golden plates were on display, I’m sure there would be just as much debunking about them. People would come out with all kinds of reasons they are fake, but it would help to at least see them.

To further your question — I have often wondered why, at the age of eight, you don’t get a personal visitation from an Angel who verifies his or her identity, explains the truthfulness of the Church, and then lays out the commandments? Then, s/he leaves, and you’re on your own like we are now. That to me would be fair and would stop all this fumbling around and deception and guessing about what state of affairs REALLY exists after this life is over. We could get on with trumping the natural man and self-improvement.

People say “that takes away agency” — but then, couldn’t you argue the same thing about powerful HOly Ghost experiences taking away agency? No, I feel that when it comes to the afterlife and the REAL requirements for salvation, there is room for improvement in the quality of knowledge we get about the Plan of Salvation.

I think that the question is a legitimate concern…I’ve felt that way myself. However, I must admit that I never put that sort of scrutiny on the bible. The gospels were written many years, and sometimes decades, after the fact…we don’t have those original texts, and still folks don’t tend to question as much as they do with the BoM.

Just sayin…

I don’t want to see them, even if they are literal records of ancient people’s writings.

I mean that, sincerely. I am a bit of a “mystic” / philosopher at heart. I love speculation and exploration and contradiction and the need to be on my toes mentally and spiritually all the time. Sure, it gets tiring sometimes for me, but I actually get energized (“jazzed”) contemplating different possibilities for things.

I’d love to be certain about lots of things, but total certainty would destroy a lot of the fun of life for me. I understand and appreciate that most people aren’t like me in that regard (how I really am a “weird duck” in that regard), but I really love the mysterious and mythical and cosmic and mind-bending stuff – which is one of the reasons I actually love the Book of Mormon so much. There are SO many tiny, subtle things I get when I read and ponder it (plus an occasional big epiphany) that bring an element of excitement and anticipation to me that seeing actual plates would destroy some of that for me – even if they were proven to be accurate and historical.

To me Mormonism seems to be based entirely on faith while the rest of Christianity has physical evidence.

I assume you are referring to the actual historical record on Jesus, his disciples, and the overall history of the nation of Israel vs. the possibility of the characters in the BOM not having been historical. I can see your point. OTOH there is ample physical evidence that JS actually lived, but the question of whether one accepts him as a prophet is still largely a question of faith.

I think you got what I was trying to say. The existence of the Book of Mormon is based solely on faith.

It’s taken me awhile to be ok with separating the moral and spiritual messages in the BoM with the need for it to be historically true. Thinking of the plates as real and needing to be in a place would make things hard for me again. No thanks.

It’s taken me awhile to be ok with separating the moral and spiritual messages in the BoM with the need for it to be historically true. Thinking of the plates as real and needing to be in a place would make things hard for me again. No thanks.

Seeing the plates would only prove that Joseph Smith did actually find an ancient book and translated it. It could still be an ancient work of fiction or the prophets in those days could have been misguided or confused. It wouldn’t eliminate faith, just give JS more credibility.

I use to really really want to see the plates for myself, as a validation of JS and the whole Mormon pathway.

Now — I just don’t have much “testimony” that they are real or that JS translated anything —- so I just quit thinking in black and white because it only causes me pain and frustration. Perhaps JS “channeled” some inspiring thoughts that we call the BoM, or he made it all up from his own spiritual opionion. Whatever, there is value in it for me either way, and I will just take it and use what I can, and shelf the rest.